RPM Blocking Spells/Instant Gathering

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by JulianLW

I'm not understanding how Blocking Spells work in RPM.

In RPM, under "'Blocking' Spells":

"Ambient energy can be gathered instantly at -10 to skill; this supersedes the normal penalty to reduce time."

So ... does this mean that, if I have the Path skill at 21, I can roll at 11 to gather energy 3 times, then at 10 3 times, then at 9 3 times ... until I have enough energy to power the blocking ritual? ... all instantly? or until I fail a roll, at which point the blocking attempt fails?

Correct. You can make any number of gathering rolls, with all that that entails, but as soon as you fail or gather enough energy you're done.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

By the same token, if energy can be gathered instantly at -10, does that mean that I can do all my gathering rolls from a base of skill-10 (and hope I never roll a failure, which stops the instant gathering) like normal, but all those gathering rolls happen instantly?

I'd probably say "No" as a GM. Blocking spells should be spelled out as to what they are when made. Not every spell can just be instantly performed like this. Otherwise you're going to get casters who always roll at -10 to gather and cast instantly and that is obviously broken.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Finally, an unrelated question. Let's say I have Magery 2, so my Path skills are capped at Magery 2 + 12 for 14, but my IQ is 20, and 1 CP in a Path skill would give me 17. If I put 2 points in a Path skill, could I use those extra 4 points of theoretical skill above the cap (18 - 14) to soak penalties?

No.